SARASOTA, Fla. (SNN TV) — Millions of Floridians are expected to travel for Christmas and New Year’s, with around 6 million of them on the roads, according to AAA.
And drivers will likely get some relief.
“Gas prices have been declining and are at their lowest point all year,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman for American Automobile Association. “The United States is already producing oil at a record high. So we’ve now recovered from the pandemic in terms of oil production numbers.”
AAA says the average price of a gallon of gas in Florida is around $2.99. On the Suncoast, it’s $2.96. A year ago today, gas was at $3.16 locally.
And one of the biggest changes was diesel: going from $4.84 on the Suncoast a year ago to an average of $3.78 now.
Why was it expensive in 2022?
“There was less crude oil in the market from Russia [in 2022] and elsewhere,” Jenkins explained. “And a lot of that oil from that continent tends to be more conducive for producing diesel whereas a lot of the oil produced here in the United States, you have to use more of it to produce a larger yield of diesel.”
You may think that with supply and demand, the expected record number of travelers could lead to an increase
“Refineries oftentimes will ramp up production expecting big surges in demand especially during holiday weeks,” said Jenkins. “There’s not a direct impact based on big surges of demand. I would expect them to fluctuate but ultimately stay pretty low compared to what we paid in recent months.”
Jenkins added gas prices in 2024 will depend on crude oil prices. The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects production to increase by a million barrels per day in 2024, but the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries — OPEC — likes to cut production to raise oil prices.